There’s been the usual media attention to Apple Records’ latest swing at Apple Computer, something I won’t bother getting into here (Google “Apple Beatles sue” if you need a gazillion news reports on the matter). What strikes me as odd, though, is the mixed bag of nomenclature being bandied about with regards to the two companies. Apple, as we know it, is Apple Computer. That much is certain. Apple Records, on the other hand, has been referred to as ‘Apple Corp’, ‘Apple Corporation’ and ‘Apple Corps’ in many of the articles I’ve found myself reading. Given the situation, let’s look at the two possibilities:

The Beatles decided to name their company Apple Corporation. Most media outlets have correctly reported this name as ‘Apple Corporation’, or an abbreviated ‘Apple Corp’. A few random outlets, in a bizarre act of defiance, have decided to report their name as ‘Apple Corps’ for fun. ‘Corps’, or course, being pronounced “core” (take the US Marine Corps, for example), which sounds highly amusing when paired with the word ‘apple’.

The Beatles, in a jovial mood, decided to name their company in a clever way; laced with punnery… ‘Apple Corps’. A minority of media outlets (most of them based in the UK) have correctly reported their name. A majority of outlets, with little grasp of the English language and no nose for word play, have decided that the Beatles’ label is actually named ‘Apple Corporation’, and have reported it as such.